Monday, April 12, 2010

Reviewer's Tip - Packing Your Book, Part 1

Congratulations! Your book has been accepted for review by Joe's Review Site. Before shipping that review copy out, take a moment to prepare the book's package. It will make a big difference in how the book arrives at its destination. We thought we'd show you some of the good, the bad, and the gosh-darn ugly packages that have arrived at Feathered Quill. Hopefully this will give you an idea of how to pack your book. (Photos taken by Lynette Latzko and Ellen Feld)

First, we thought we'd show you samples of books that barely made it to our office:

Yes, the mailman decided to fold this book in half to fit it into a mailbox. Cardboard works wonders to save your books from getting scrunched.

Here's what happens when you use a plain, non-padded or bubble envelope to mail your book. This one was trying to escape...

...and this book almost did escape. Another day in transit and it might not have made it to our office.

This large book was shipped in an even larger box. It wasn't packed tightly and bounced around. Shipped UPS, it arrived on a rainy day and was left outside in the rain by UPS. Luckily, the book wasn't completely destroyed and we were able to salvage it.

Here's another view of that same box - the other side. Ouch. It's amazing that the book arrived at all.

Tomorrow we'll show you examples of books that were shipped the right way. Stay tuned....